The Courthouse
When the Third District Court of Appeal was created by the Florida legislature in 1957, the bench was comprised solely of Chief Judge Charles A. Carroll, Judge Mallory H. Horton and Judge Tillman Pearson. This photograph of the Court’s first three judges was taken on July 1, 1957, which was the first day the Court convened.
From 1957 through 1960, Court was held in a room at the University of Miami School of Law. This photograph of Judge Tillman Pearson, Chief Judge Mallory H. Horton, and Charles A. Carroll was taken on July 1, 1959.
From 1960 to 1976, arguments before the Third District Court of Appeal took place at a downtown Miami state office building located at 1350 N.W. 12th Avenue. This photograph was taken in that building on July 1, 1965. During this period, the number of judges on the court increased from three to five.
In 1972, Dade County deeded to the State of Florida three acres in Tamiami Park, along Southwest 117th Avenue, adjacent to the Florida International University campus, for the purpose of constructing a building to house the Third District Court of Appeal. Construction began in 1974 and Governor Reubin Askew dedicated the current building in the fall of 1976.
Since 1976, the Court has heard arguments at its present location at 2001 S.W. 117th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33175. Its original design featured an open-air courtyard that led to a public entrance. The Historical Society hosted many events in this courtyard over the years.
This photograph was taken at the courthouse on January 4, 1977.
After forty years of operation, structural concerns necessitated additional construction, which commenced in 2017. Security concerns stemming from the open-air courtyard necessitated the construction of an external wall that enclosed the area that used to be the courtyard within the court’s existing walls. While the courthouse was under construction from 2017 through 2019, oral arguments were held at the neighboring Florida International University College of Law.
During his tenure as Chief Judge, the Honorable Frank A. Shepherd spent an extraordinary amount of time lobbying the Legislature for the funds necessary to fund the construction. His successor, Chief Judge Leslie B. Rothenberg, oversaw the Court’s renovation. On April 26, 2019, the Third District Court of Appeal celebrated the courthouse’s rededication. The Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation, the leadership of the 2014-2019 Florida Legislatures, and other stakeholders and contributors were honored for their respective roles in making the project possible.
This photograph accurately depicts the external structure of the Third District Court of Appeal after the 2017-2019 renovations were complete.
Courthouse security used to be set back in the courthouse structure behind the open-air courtyard. It has now been moved up to the front where the public entrance is located. Since 2000, the courthouse has been named the “Thomas H. Barkdull, Jr. District Courthouse” in honor of the Honorable Thomas H. Barkdull, Jr. who served on the Court for 35 years and who served as its chief judge during the Court’s original construction in the 1970s. Judge Barkdull’s name is now inscribed above the security desk.
This display lists the names of all judges who have served on the Court and the years they served. It previously appeared in the open air courtyard. Untouched by the construction, it remains viewable today in the Court’s atrium.
What once was an open-air courtyard is now an enclosed atrium from which the public can access the Courtroom, the Clerk’s office, the Marshal’s office, and the lawyers’ lounge. Many attorneys gather in the lounge before oral argument and the Historical Society holds board meetings there several times each year. In light of Miami’s tropical climate, the ability to air-condition the atrium has made each of the subsequent investitures, retirement ceremonies, and other gatherings significantly more comfortable for the participants.
This grand entryway leads from the Court’s atrium into the courtroom.
Immediately past the security, visitors will encounter the “Alan R. Schwartz Atrium.” No other judge who has served on the Court has in the role of chief judge longer than Judge Schwartz. The Historical Society proudly donated the semi-circular benches along the wall below Judge Schwartz’s name.
This is a 2019 photograph of the Court, as it was then composed, behind the bench in the Third District Court of Appeal’s historic courtroom. Since the courtroom was not part of the 2017-2019 renovations, it looks exactly the same today as it did when the courthouse opened in 1976.